Gianluca Cascioli facts for kids

Gianluca Cascioli (born 17 July 1979 in Turin) is a talented Italian pianist, conductor, and composer. He is known for his amazing skills on the piano and for leading orchestras. He also writes his own music.

Early Life and Music Journey

Gianluca Cascioli started his musical journey in Turin, Italy. He studied how to compose music at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory. He also learned to play the piano from a famous teacher named Franco Scala.

In 1994, when he was just 15 years old, Gianluca won a big competition called the Umberto Micheli International Piano Competition. The judges were very famous musicians like Luciano Berio and Maurizio Pollini. Winning this competition was a huge deal! It even led to a special contract with a record company called Deutsche Grammophon. He recorded three music CDs with them when he was still a teenager.

Performing Around the World

Gianluca Cascioli has played the piano as a soloist with many of the world's best orchestras. He has performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Vienna Philharmonic. He has also played with the New York Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

He has worked with many famous conductors, who are like the leaders of an orchestra. Some of these include Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, and Valery Gergiev. Gianluca has also played chamber music, which is music for a small group of instruments, with other great musicians like Maxim Vengerov.

As a Conductor and Composer

Besides playing the piano, Gianluca Cascioli also conducts orchestras. He has led the Deutsche Kammerorchester Frankfurt.

He is also a composer, meaning he writes his own music. Some of his pieces have been performed in big concerts. For example, his "Sonatina" was first played at the Hamburg Musikfest in 2004. He also wrote "Variations for Piano," which was first performed in Japan. His "Symphony" was played for the first time in Italy, and his "Violin and Piano Sonata" also premiered in Italy.

Recorded Music

Gianluca Cascioli has released several music recordings. He has three CDs with Deutsche Grammophon. He also recorded a special version of Schumann's Piano Concerto. For Decca, another record company, he recorded music by Chopin and Debussy. His Debussy album includes famous pieces like Children's Corner and Préludes.]]